What Went Down During Gordon Sondland’s Testimony

Yes, Clare, it seems totally plausible to me that Trump didn’t draw that connection directly with Sondland because that’s not how he asks for things that could seem shady. And you can see from this testimony why he might do that!

One thing we seem to know about Trump — mostly via the Michael Cohen testimony — is that he has a history of being careful about directly telling people to do legally on-the-line things. Do we think that’s what’s happening here?

Sondland says “I don’t recall Trump talking to me about any security assistance, ever.” Seems like another line for Republicans to seize on — Sondland might have believed in the connection between the investigations and the aid, but he didn’t hear it directly from Trump.